’ve been traveling a lot
lately, mostly out to the
West Coast. Sometimes
I find myself in an unfamiliar place and need some
much-appreciated hospitality.
One of the places that catches
my eye consistently is San Francisco. Hospitality is woven into
the social thread of this city by
the bay. One of the ways that a
cocktail bar can do to “raise the
bar” is always set a glass of water down in front of your guest. I
know I’ve discussed this before,
but it draws an efficiency correlation. How can I run, or work in
an efficient bar if I’m supposed
to put a glass of water down in
front of my guest? The answer is
two-fold. If you have a bar-back,
it should be their primary responsibility to “water the guest” before restocking the beer cooler. There is more than
enough time to get the back-work
done before or after your guests arrive.
I’m not saying that this action should
be forced, only that it looks like it’s fun!
Efficiency is doing this without having
to ask.
Another efficiency that your barback should be performing is the
cutting of the ice. If you are not cutting your own ice for your high-end
drinking program, you’re missing all
the fun! Take a gander at You-Tube
sometime and gaze wistfully at the
Japanese when they hand-cut their ice
for cocktails. No one is saying to make
your ice like theirs, you never will.
(OK, you might, but most don’t want
to) The process for your bar-back is
simple. The ice need not be perfectly
clear. Rough chips look better when
they are cloudy, they force the drink-

er into the three-dimensionality of
the glass. But how is this efficient? By
making your own ice, the passion for
the craft is exemplified. It shows that
you are interested in something more
than just serving drinks. Anyone can
serve drinks. To be ultra-efficient in
your establishment you have to take
some risks. One of these is the ice program. Another one that I am insistent
on is the fresh juice program. Fresh
juices just taste better. It’s essential
for a cocktail bar or even the service
bar at the country club to produce
fresh juices for their mixed drinks. If
I can teach anything at all to the up
and coming mixologist/bartender
that bottled juices will never bring
your drinks up to a World Class level.
You will be doomed to making airline
drinks, forever! You know how flat and
boring it is to drink a cocktail while flying. Your palate doesn’t bring anything
to the table because of the altitude.

18 • July 2019 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

Now, enter the realm of efficiency. Your bar-back is making hand-cut ice and they are
making all your juices, freshly
squeezed. It’s your signature,
scratch-made cocktails with
scratch-made juices. Do you
think that your chef is the only
one with a culinary degree?
Many bartenders and mixologists, me included, are former
chefs and cooks. I happen to
also be a former bar-back and
dishwasher/pot scrubber. Not
too many food or liquor writers have that authenticity behind them. Because you work
in the hospitality industry, you
must portray an image of professionality and kindness. My
friend Gaz Regan calls it mindful bartending and I couldn’t find a
better name to consider packing into
your tool-kit of knowledge. It’s essential to run an efficient bar, you have
lists of things to get done. Starting with
mindfulness, this is the first thing that
you instruct yourself every single day.
To be on the ball is what I was taught
as a boy. Make it look like you are busy,
water the guests- small talk (not too
deep!), be a friend to your customer/
guest. (Again, not too deep, but be a
friend) Talk about your ice program,
your artisan spirits program, your recent trip to see how they make Mezcal. Possibly your joining the USBG?
(That’s our bartending guild, if you
didn’t know already)
You can make bar work fun, or it can
be a real drag. No one expects you to
have a great day, every day. However,
creating interesting tasks such as cutting really cool rounds, cubes and
chunks of ice in front of your guest

Warren Bobrow is the creator of the
popular blog The Cocktail Whisperer and the author of nearly half a
dozen books, including Apothecary
Cocktails, Whiskey Cocktails, Bitters
and Shrub Syrup Cocktails, and his
most recent book Cannabis Cocktails,
Mocktails, & Tonics.

is one of the most memorable things
I’ve ever done. They will always remember it. Everyone who sees this
process wants their specialty spirit to
be poured, ever so eloquently over the
top of a pristine ice cube. Maybe you’d
like to have a juicer right up on the
bar? I saw those several times in San
Francisco and up in the Wine/Cannabis Country. There is something to be
said for releasing the fresh citrus oils
into the air when juicing on the spot.
The initial cost of a commercial juicer
is quickly realized when your guests
taste the results.
Efficiency. We talked about ice, we
talked about juicing. Now a cocktail
made with your new ice and your newfound juices, which they are using
in every single place, no matter how
humble in California. They just get it
on the word that is mostly forgotten in
high volume, low passion restaurants